Fifty Plus (50+) - How bikes are *really* made

There's a thread elsewhere on BF about whether it's possible to buy a parts group made in the USA. Buried about a billion posts down is a really interesting article about how bikes are really made, and why Taiwan is so important to the bike business. The article is 6 years old, but still worth reading.

This would not be new news to any of you who have done foreign sourcing in your lives, but it's a good primer on what foreign manufacturing looks like for companies that do their design/marketing in the U.S.

Here's the link to the article (it's long, but interesting):

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/The_bike_biz_271.html



And here's the original thread:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=417596&highlight=usa

Credit to BF member geoffvsjeff for posting the article (which I guess has been around BF before, but I hadn't seen it).

Wow that was interesting. I started after college in manufacturing, stereo speakers in particular, and metal stamping/forming.

The only single thing I would disagree on is about the paint from Taiwan. Most of it is great but the reborn Masi had frames made in Italy and shipped to Taiwan to paint and build out before import to the USA. The paint was terrible. It would chip if you looked at it sideways.

Here's the link to the article (it's long, but interesting):

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/The_bike_biz_271.html

Wow ... that's the first time I've seen this article. It's worth a read for sure.

... Brad